South Asian Business news and information

Sri Lanka is mainly famous for the on going civil war. However, many people do not know that Sri Lanka is one of the best places in Asia for doing business. Literacy rate is very high compared to most countries in Asia. Secondly, Sri Lanka has a lot of skilled workers who are ready to work with cheap salary. However, tax issue is becoming a cause of concern when it comes to doing business in Sri Lanka.

AFP reported:

"The obstacles to doing business in Sri Lanka are linked to the licensing and tax procedures regimes," Melissa Johns, Investment Policy Specialist in the Doing Business team told AFP.

The report authors also ranked countries in individual problem areas.

Sri Lanka was the 111th most expensive country in the world to employ workers, as restrictive labour laws make it costly to dismiss staff. Companies must pay 169 weeks of salary to lay off a worker.

"These rules hit businesses at the worst possible time-when layoffs are needed because of falling demand for their products," the authors said. "High firing costs scare employers away from creating jobs."

This is not a good thing for Sri Lanka. The last thing Sri Lanka needs at this moment is having a bad image about tax problems. This will drive away potential foreign investors. I hope that Sri Lankan government will give importance to this issue and implement economic reforms.